Social care workforce needs to be reformed

 The social care workforce must be reformed to fit the changing government agenda, a conference heard today.

James Churchill, chair of the occupational standards and qualifications committee at Skills for Care, said the changes set out in the health and social care white paper, the Wanless review and the Options for Excellence strategy would require the creation of a new “trained and trusted” workforce.

He told the Skills for Care conference in Manchester that personal assistants had grown fast in the workforce over the last six years and predicted that the role could dominate the future of the social care workforce.